Wednesday, February 4, 2015

I hope this past weekend saw you sandwiching well during the Super Bowl and its horrific and exciting end. Maybe you created your favorite sporting sandwich, or tried a new one, like I did.

Mendocino Farms. Oh, you crafter of creative sandwiches. I've been past both Hollywood locations numerous times, as well as the Sherman Oaks one but had yet to stop in until we happened to be passing by this weekend, returning from a trip to the homebrew store.

Standing out amidst a massive condominium complex in Sherman Oaks, Mendocino Farms is a welcoming eatery space in which the lines fill up quickly but move just as fast. If nothing else, the short wait will give you enough time to peruse the menu. Seriously, I went back and forth about ten times before deciding on my sandwich for the afternoon.

The chicken is a nice cut, juicy and a great base flavor for the sandwich. Each bite does give you a bit of that spicy buffalo sauce flavor, but I actually wish there was a bit more. The blue cheese slaw brings a bit of the funk to the sandwich but does cover up some of that vinegar-y flavor of the sauce. I wished there had been a bit more of each with a better balance overall to make this a big hit.

The slaw and krispies added a bit of crunch, and the roll was delicious and held together until the end. Overall it was an enjoyable sandwich, just wish it had been kicked up a notch.

The rest of the menu looks pretty delicious as I mentioned before, and I'm looking forward to trying their Banh Mi next time as it has become one of my favorite types of sandwiches. If you're up for something well crafted and delicious, definitely give Mendocino Farms a shot. You may even love this sandwich with its more muted flavors than I had expected, especially if you're not into potentially over-intense flavors as I am.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Look, I know it's a bit early for this week's sandwich blog, but that's because this isn't a post about sandwiches.

This is a post about beer.

Now, I'm a craft-beer-drinking, homebrew-loving, beer fanatic, but if you're the type of person who enjoys Budweiser, or Coors, more power to you. If that's your jam, and you enjoy the flavor, fantastic. Drink on, Friend.

I will try to tell you that there are better tasting, more fulfilling beers than the Big 3, but I won't tell you top stop drinking what you like. Macro-Brewing should not be a term with revile, but in some cases embrace. If suddenly your local brewery was produced so that the entire country could enjoy it, but the flavor didn't change, would you suddenly hate it since it was suddenly "Macro"?

Enter, Budweiser's Super Bowl Commercial.

No, the other one. Not the one with the cute puppy, and the crying during such a manly sport like football where dudes in spandex tackle each other in an arena.

At first, I laughed at this spot. It's ballsy. It's very much a "If you don't like, us, well piss off because we've got plenty of people who drink it, and we're happy with who we are" attitude.

Fantastic, Budweiser. Bravo. Own what you are.

But then the commercial degrades into a lot of name-calling and knocking the idea of beer as a craft. One of my favorite parts of this new salvo in beer on beer warring is the fact that Budweiser originally starts off by saying it's not to be dissected, but follows up by telling you about its beechwood aging process.

Wood aging is a pretty craft-brewing thing to do. Something that adds aroma and flavor.

Secondly, for a company that is knocking craft brewing, Budweiser sure doesn't have a problem purchasing stakes in craft brewing companies. Anheuser-Busch InBev currently owns 32% of Red Hook Brewing and Widmer Brewing, and owns majority stakes in breweries such as Redbridge, Goose Island, Kona Brewing, Fordham Brewing, and Old Dominion Brewing either through direct ownership or through the Craft Beer Alliance.

They also just recently purchased a 47.2% stake in Elysian Brewing just over a week ago. Now why would I mention this one separate of the others? at 0:42 into the commercial Budweiser cracks a joke about craft beer drinkers enjoying their Peach Pumpkin Ale.

It just so happens that Elysian Brewing has a beer called Gourdia On My Mind: a peach pumpkin ale. They also have at least three other seasonal pumpkin ales containing other ingredients like Stumptown Coffee.

The short of it though is that, while I had originally applauded Budwesier in the first ten seconds for owning who they are, the fact is that the company has become scared of the competition. Beer drinkers are becoming more educated, knowing that drinking your beer just above freezing temps only serves to block out the poor flavor and aroma.

If Budweiser were truly not afraid of being Macro, they wouldn't find a need to buy up smaller craft brands in order to solidify their position. The fact that they also mock those purchased brands in their commercial shows they know that their position in the market is truly fading.